Michael Andrew Blasts 18.9 50 Free at Columbia Sectional

Michael Andrew dropped a new best time of 18.91 the 50 free on Saturday night of the Columbia Sectional, shaving .26 seconds off his previous best time of 19.17. Archive photo via Mike Lewis/Ola Vista Photography

2018 COLUMBIA SECTIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

Michael Andrew dropped a new best time of 18.91 the 50 free on Saturday night of the Columbia Sectional, shaving .26 seconds off his previous best time of 19.17. He swam that 19.17 just over 3 months ago at the 2017 Winter Juniors, and his best time going into the 2017-2018 season was 19.24. That marks a pretty significant .33 second drop in the SCY 50 free this season. Furthermore, that marks Andrew as the 3rd 18-and-under to go a sub-19 50 free. The first swimmer to achieve that honor was none other than Caeleb Dressel, who swam an 18.94 relay lead-off when he was 17, and currently holds the 17-18 NAG at 18.67 from when he was 18. Ryan Hoffer is the other 18 year old to break 19 seconds, with his fastest 18-and-under time sitting at #2 with an 18.71. Andrew’s time doesn’t actually change the all-time 17-18 rankings however, since he was already #3, so now he’s still at #3 but with a faster time.

In other 50 free news, 45 year old Olympic Gold medalist Josh Davis broke the US Matster’s national record with his 20.99. That time marks the first time a swimmer aged 45 or above has broken 21 seconds in the 50 free. The previous record was 21.06 from Richard Hughey in 2010.

Andrew went on to win the men’s 100 back in a new lifetime best of 46.50. That marked another significant drop for Andrew, coming in .69 seconds under his previous best of 47.19. Andrew was out in 22.60 and back in 23.90. 14 year old Aiden Hayes came in 3rd with a 49.27, which was just off his lifetime best of 49.23, which is 7th all-time for 13-14 year olds. Michael Andrew then came back and finished out the night with a stunning 20.60 to win the 50 fly.

Kevin “Patrick” Callan, a Michigan recruit for the 2018-2019 season, blasted a 4:13.78 in the 500 free to win by 14 seconds. Patrick Callan took nearly a full second off his previous best time of 4:14.66, bringing himself up from 9th to 5th in the all-time 17-18 rankings. He was out really fast, clocking his first 200 at 1:37.14, which for reference, is 3-tenths faster than Clark Smith took out his first 200 when he broke the American record in the 500 at the NCAAs last year with his 4:08.42.